A blog for The Urutsk Cycle and Related Subjects,
including the URUTSK: World of Mystery RPG.
Shipwrecked survivors of a galaxy-spanning empire (ruined when the core exploded) settle upon a wetlands world occupied by humans and other species. They then poke through ruins of their Ancient ancestors as they strive to regain space and then, starflight.

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Friday, June 12, 2009

What once were the commonplace tools of living and leisure for the Ancients are now considered archaeological treasures and great boons.

While both Intelligence and Wisdom must certainly play a role in determining the type of item, and diagnosing its condition, with a strong argument that high Dexterity may illuminate additional features on most purely-mechanical devices, surely experience itself is a great teacher? So far we have something like this:

Base Percentage Chance (BPC) based upon the item's Utility (01% -- 100+%, with higher being better). Simpler, or more 'user-friendly' items are easier to activate in their intended manner than similarly complex items with lower Utility.

Technologians have the correct skill set to perform these procedures, and receive a flat +20% bonus in addition to their rolls

Certain Aberrations provide specific bonuses at various stages in the Identification/Diagnosis/Repair process

The Referee then rolls the dice and determines whether the character has discovered how to operate the item, provided it were working properly, and had whatever power needed.

Clearly, a series of steps are necessary to take an artefact and bring it back to operational level. To speed things along, I've come up with this procedure:

Spend an amount of coin on diagnosis and any possible repair at a cost equal to the item's XP value. A rush job will cost at least double (1d4+1x), and subtracts 25 from the item's Utility until the first six times it is used, decreasing by 6% each time until only 1% has degraded until the minor repair is performed.

Spend the XP for the Armour/Weapon Proficiency or Open Locks +%s necessary to operate the item in the field

Pay 1/2 the XP value of the item (if discovered, it may be a 'free cost')

That's it. Now the figure has legally purchased full operational usage of an Ancient wonder.

As I was editing the 16 Adventure Locations and their Leaders, I realised that each of them needed at least a few Rumours, if not an Encounter Chart.Yeah, so, no, I'm not as close to being finished with the writing as I had intended, but yes, I think it will be a better product for the inclusion of those features.

* I've also fiddled with the Tunnels & Trolls snap-conversions (from ARGUS to T&T), and it looks like a nice mix between the very minimalist MR rating and a D&Dism. If anything, I think the T&T critters are laterally improved (Saving Roll bonuses) if not the overall number of dice they are rolling.

--In brief

Each Fight Die is 5 Monster Rating

AB is the creature's Combat Adds (and if one adds the CT value, Missile Adds)

# Attacks is the minimum number of d6 the creature rolls

modified Resolve is Spell-casting POW

modified CT is the creature's LK score

Defence and Armour perform the same function, although Defence could be added to Defence and Stunt SR totals (dodging the Giant), while the Armour listing could be replaced with the Armour values in T&T, or used as is.

Other rules-set modifications (again to ARGUS, without affecting the host-system) are coming to mind, and as I write them up, I'll have an eye toward posting them alongside with the free Beta .pdf when it becomes available for your perusal and hoped-for testing.